Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness:

The birthplace of the United States of America is located slightly west of the Delaware River in Philadelphia. The Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were both debated and signed inside Independence Hall. Built originally as the Pennsylvania State House, the Pennsylvania legislature loaned their Assembly Room out to the delegates meeting for the Second Continental Congress and later, the Constitutional Convention.

America’s declaration of independence from Britain was not inevitable. Until the 1760s, most American colonists were happy with the relationship that they had with the British Empire. The colonists sold their goods to the British and the British defended the colonists from Native Americans and other threats. However, this mutually beneficial relationship became strained as a result of the Seven Years' War.

The Seven Years’ War was a global conflict between France and Britain that established Britain as the most dominant European country in the world. Despite Britain being victorious against France and her allies, an enormous debt was incurred by the British. To pay off this new and extensive debt, Britain levied a series of new taxes on the American colonies. Frustrated with these novel taxes and lack of representation in the British Parliament, the colonists grew angry. Eventually, tensions boiled over and the colonists took up arms against the British at the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Despite the Battles of Lexington and Concord being known today as the start of the American Revolutionary War, at the time, it was far from certain America would fight Britain for independence.

In May of 1775, a few weeks following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress convened inside Independence Hall. While members of the Continental Congress discussed declaring independence from British, it was not until June of 1776 that a formal proposal was made. However, not all the delegates at the Second Continental Congress were convinced that declaring independence was the right course of action.

In order to fully explore the reasons for possible independence, the Congress formed a Committee of Five to draft a statement presenting the best case for breaking from Britain. The committee consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The Committee of Five subsequently assigned Jefferson, only 33 years old at the time, the task of writing the first draft of the document. While Jefferson was given 17 days to write what would become the Declaration of Independence, he reportedly wrote it in just two.

On June 28, 1776, Jefferson submitted a draft of his declaration to Congress after it had gone through revisions by the Committee of Five. For the next few days, Congress argued over every line in the declaration and made subsequently more changes to it. Finally, on July 4, 1776, Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence and give birth to the United States of America.

Despite the many revisions made to the Declaration of Independence, many important passages from Jefferson’s original draft remained intact. One passage that survived almost word for word from Jefferson’s original draft, is also one of the most quoted.

The preamble to the Declaration of Independence contains the moving line, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

With this line, Jefferson expressed the highest ideals of America even at a time of horrendous slavery and misogyny. Furthermore, Jefferson explained that the government is established to secure that certain God-given rights are protected. Among these unalienable rights that must be preserved by the government are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

From Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama, presidents and politicians of all political stripes have reminded Americans that our government was formed to protect these unalienable rights. However, as of late, the understanding of what it means to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, has proven elusive to some far right, attention seeking, egotistical members of Congress.

A little over a year ago, America was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, there is new evidence daily that almost half of COVID-19 deaths in America could have been prevented if the Trump Administration acted more quickly and decisively.

A Lancet Commission report found that roughly 40% of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. could have been prevented if not for Trump’s “inept and insufficient” response. Even more damning, former President Trump’s own White House coronavirus coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, has said that the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths in America could have been prevented if the Trump Administration had followed the science and taken appropriate steps to mitigate the spread of the virus.

With over 550,000 COVID-19 deaths in America today, some Republican members of Congress continue to peddle misinformation and lies about the pandemic. During a House Coronavirus Crisis Subcommittee on April 15, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) angrily pressed Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, on when Americans could “get their freedoms back.”

Dr. Fauci told the Congressman that restrictions should gradually be lifted “when we get the level of infection in this country low enough.” Dr. Fauci also assured the Congressman that life in America will return to normal when more people get vaccinated.

Not satisfied, Congressman Jordan insisted that Americans’ “liberties and freedoms” had been stripped from them due to mask mandates, curfews and business capacity limits.

Somewhat exasperated, but not giving up on the importance of following pandemic protocols, Dr. Fauci responded, “You’re indicating liberty and freedom. I look at it as a public health measure to prevent people from dying and going to hospital.”

What is obvious from this exchange is that Congressman Jordan does not want to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and lacks a total understanding of what liberties are afforded to the American people.

While Congressman Jordan may have a maximalist interpretation of liberty, American’s Founding Fathers understood that in a Democracy there are limits placed on all rights.

In order to contain a smallpox outbreak during the American Revolution, George Washington isolated anyone suspected of carrying the infection from the rest of his troops. In addition, when the British evacuated Boston, Washington allowed only those troops who had recovered from smallpox to re-enter the city.

Moreover, the Founders understood that in order to exercise liberty, one must first be alive and well. Hence, the Declaration of Independence states that all men have the unalienable rights of first “Life” and then “Liberty.”

Contrary to what Congressman Jordan has implied, the people who have lost their liberty during this pandemic are the over 550,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19. These dead Americans will never again be able to hug their family members, go out for dinner and attend a place of worship. These are the Americans that have had their liberty stripped from them.

By promoting mask wearing, social distancing and vaccines, Dr. Fauci and healthcare professionals across America are doing all they can to ensure that more Americans do not have their life, liberty and happiness stripped from them.

Congressman Jordan needs to reexamine why he is in Congress and what he is fighting for. While Democrats and Republicans do not agree on much these days, it would behove Congress and the American people to focus on defeating the coronavirus so that everyone can get back to a less restrictive, pre-pandemic life, undoubtedly filled with much more happiness.